Past exam of the short options paper shared by Prelims and Parts A and B of the physics course of the University of Oxford / 2018 / S16 / 2 / Solution

The plasma parameter is the mean number of electrons in a Debye sphere. With electron Debye length ${\lambda }_D=({\epsilon }_0{k}_{B}T/n_e{e}^2{)}^{1/2}$,Large $N_D$ describes weakly coupled collective screening; a single electron does not dominate its screening cloud. For a small uniform electron displacement $\xi$ relative to fixed ions, the restoring field gives $m_e\ddot{\xi }=-n_e{e}^2\xi /{\epsilon }_0$, henceThis cold-electron oscillation estimate neglects thermal dispersion and ion motion.

Using the stipulated collision-time approximation,With $C\sim 3n_e{k}_B/2$ and $v^2\sim k_{B}T/m_e$, the kinetic estimate $K=C{v}^2\tau /3$ givesThe elementary single-speed estimate corresponds to $B=1$; velocity averaging and the stated collision model are represented by the supplied $B$. A detailed Coulomb transport calculation also contains a Coulomb logarithm and cannot be inferred precisely from this simplified expression.

The electron thermal energy density is $3n_e{k}_{B}T/2$. Transporting all of it at the thermal speed gives the free-streaming scaleFor heat flowing in the positive $x$ direction, $-dT/dx>0$. Inserting $K$ into $K(-dT/dx)>A{\dot{q}}_{\max }$ givesThis flux-limiting criterion expresses the failure of a local diffusive description when an electron samples a substantial change in temperature over a transport path.

For the stipulated carbon plasma and $B\simeq 10$, setting the gradient equal to $10^{11}\mathrm{K}{\mathrm{m}}^{-1}$ gives a critical flux fraction of order $A_{\mathrm{crit}}\simeq 0.05$. Fourier transport is invalid according to this test when $\boxed{A<A_{\mathrm{crit}}}$; a still larger actual gradient raises the critical value. Thus the source's request for a minimum $A$ has the inequality reversed: the calculation gives an upper threshold, not a positive minimum. An arbitrarily smaller positive $A$ makes the criterion easier to satisfy. The exact numerical threshold is evaluated in the independent check.